Canadian researchers have developing a mind-reading computer that could help communicate with people in a coma.

The University of Western Ontario researchers used neuroimaging to read human thoughts via brain activity when they are conveying specific ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers.

The team say their research could lead to dramatic new ways of attempting to communicate with patients in a vegetative state.

The brain scans that reveal what we are thinking: The team found brain activity could reveal the answer to simple questions - and could be used to communicate with patients in a coma

HOW THEY DID IT

In the study, participants were asked
to concentrate on a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response to questions like 'Are you
married?' or 'Do you have brothers and sisters?' and only think their
response, not speak it.

By analysing their brain activity, the team were able to accurately read their answers to a series of questions.

Their findings were published today in The Journal of Neuroscience in a study titled, The Brain's Silent Messenger: Using Selective Attention to Decode Human Thought for Brain-Based Communication.

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According to lead
researcher Lorina Naci, the interpretation of human thought from brain
activity – without depending on speech or action – is one of the most
provoking and challenging frontiers of modern neuroscience.

Specifically,
patients who are fully conscious and awake, yet, due to brain damage,
are unable to show any behavioral responsivity, expose the limits of the
neuromuscular system and the necessity for alternate forms of
communication.

In the study, participants were asked
to concentrate on a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response to questions like 'Are you
married?' or 'Do you have brothers and sisters?' and only think their
response, not speak it.

The team hope the research could one day lead to instant communication with patients in a vegetative state

'This novel method allowed healthy
individuals to answers questions asked in the scanner, simply by paying
attention to the word they wanted to convey.

'By looking at their brain
activity we were able to correctly decode the correct answers for each
individual,' said Naci, a postdoctoral fellow at Western's Brain and
Mind Institute.

'The majority of volunteers conveyed their answers within three minutes of scanning, a time window that is well-suited for communication with brain-computer interfaces.'

Naci and her Western colleagues Rhodri Cusack, Vivian Z. Jia and Adrian Owen are now utilizing this method to communicate with behaviorally non-responsive patients, who may be misdiagnosed as being in a vegetative state.

'The strengths of this technique, especially its ease of use, robustness, and rapid detection, may maximize the chances that any such patient will be able to achieve brain-based communication,' Naci said.